Scoop: Inside Bessent's Situation Room confrontation with Lutnick over China chip security
Inside the room: White House and intelligence officials have pressed Lutnick and his top advisers to take action against Megaspeed since the fall of 2025, sources tell Axios.
Key points
- I'll look into it." One source, who has extensive experience concerning the chip controversy, said the reply was "bullshit" because Lutnick had resisted action ever since he was personally handed a memo, drafted by National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that outlined the problems with Megaspeed.
- But Kessler deferred to Lutnick, saying "That's a decision for the secretary." Sources told Axios that Lutnick has spent the last year "undoing" efforts by other administration officials to hold Megaspeed — a company accused of illegally diverting U.S.
- Lutnick was among the officials who received the report in May, ahead of a trip to China, Axios first reported.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over a failure to place Nvidia customer Megaspeed on a list of companies that pose national security concerns, sources familiar told Axios.
The other side: The Commerce Department denied the Situation Room confrontation occurred.
Additional details
- Catch up quick: The Commerce Department is increasingly at the center of scrutiny over the broader Trump administration's handling of an intelligence memo overseen by State Department head Marco Rubio.
- technologies and Lutnick's actions — or lack thereof — are increasingly under scrutiny following revelations that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huan g had an affair with Megaspeed employee and suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang.
- "How come Megaspeed isn't on the entities list?" Bessent asked Lutnick, according to a source briefed on the meeting.
- The big picture: Nvidia's AI chips provide the computing power needed to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence, including systems that could transform warfare and cyberattacks.
- Secretary Bessent and Secretary Lutnick had no such conversation," spokesperson Kristen Eichamer said.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
Advertisement
Every article behind this summary — 1 article from 1 outlet
Get stories like this in your inbox.
Subscribe — it's freeOne free email at 6am — your topics, deduplicated, five minutes. No account, no paywall.